The iconic Royal Albert Hall hosts championship boxing this Saturday night with Lyndon Arthur the main attraction as he defends his WBO Intercontinental Light Heavyweight title against Davide Faraci.
Arthur (18-0, KO12) is coming off a career best win in his last fight, a split decision triumph over Anthony Yarde in December 2020, and the Manchester man is edging towards a WBO title shot, and a meeting with champion, Joe Smith Jr is a possibility down the line.
The British 175lb scene is buzzing currently, with Callum Johnson, Joshua Buatsi, Craig Richards and the aforementioned Yarde all jockeying for position.
Before thinking of world title shots or domestic dust ups, ‘King’ Arthur, must deal with an unknown quantity this weekend in Faraci (15-0, KO7).
Born in Switzerland, but of Italian nationality, the 29-year-old has never been past eight rounds as a pro, but comes to London off the back of an eight round points win in Germany against the unbeaten Emre Cukur in February 2020.
Prediction: Arthur is in the form of his life, and his jab was a big weapon in a famous win against Yarde. The jab could well be the key here, and it could well set up a stoppage win for him, somewhere around halfway.
Zach Parker (20-0, KO14) is another man in a lofty position with the WBO, and the Derbyshire Super Middleweight defends his WBO International belt against Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Khusanov (22-2-1, KO10).
Parker impressed last time out in a two round stoppage of Vaughn Alexander, and looks to build on that, and to maintain his number one WBO ranking with victory here.
Khusanov has never been stopped, but has lost two of his last three starts. Parker can comfortably come through with a wide points win.
Archie Sharp (19-0, KO9) is also building a high ranking with the WBO, and he gets a crack at the WBO Global strap at Super Featherweight after a spell as WBO European champion, as he meets Diego Andrade Chavez (13-4-2, KO1), who fights outside of his native Mexico for the first time.
Welling’s Sharp edged out the game Jeff Ofori in his last contest by a single point over ten, and he should be able to see off Chavez, who scraped an eight round split decision last time out against a 5-0 Jailer Lopez. A win on the scorecards for Sharp is the likely outcome.
Hot prospect Dennis McCann (9-0, KO5) appears on the bill, and the 20-year-old takes on Tanzania’s John Chuwa (20-4, KO10) over a scheduled eight.
McCann is heavy handed, but Chuwa has only lost once inside the distance in four defeats, a seventh round loss to Tommy Frank in July 2019.
He has won three straight bouts since in his homeland, but against opposition with a combined 4-6-1 record. McCann can enhance his reputation with a knockout win before halfway here.
More prospects are on show in England’s Capital. Muhammad Ali (2-0, KO0) meets Lee Glover (11-4, KO3) and can take their six round Super Featherweight attraction on points.
Sam Noakes (5-0, KO5) has a 100% knockout record, and the Kent Lightweight can add Lee Connelly (7-56-5, KO0) to his early night’s list with a win inside the six round distance.
At Light Heavyweight, Karol Itauma (2-0, KO1) can halt Tim Ventrella (0-1-1) in their four rounder and Levi Frankham (1-0, KO0) may need all four rounds to see off Dale Arrowsmith (2-42-1, KO1) in their Super Welterweight encounter.
